The Review Addict!

REVIEW! Fran Collections Bon Macadamia Fromage Sticks

2013-05-17T22:54:00.000+01:00

Today I am reviewing another Japanese product from Candysan which they kindly sent me to review. I wasn't sure what to make of these Bon Macadamia Fromage. Fromage is cheese in French so I was a little confused by the whole Macadamia plus cheese thing but I am always willing to give anything a go.

You get 3 individual packets of these sticks in the box and within those packets is 3 biscuits. Now I will be honest, I am not entirely sure whether these can be described as Pocky as I am not completely clear whether Pocky is the name of the brand or the product itself. Either way these are very similar to Pocky but a bit thicker than the Chocolate Almond Crunch Pocky that I reviewed the other day.

As the box was mostly in Japanese I wasn't really sure what flavour these were supposed to be but I did a bit of googling and apparently it's a chocolate biscuit stick which is coated with a later of cheese mousse (erm OK then!) and macadamia nuts and then coated with white chocolate.

Well they didn't smell "cheesy" and they didn't taste it either; these sticks were very tasty! I am guessing that the cheese is more like a cream cheese like in a cheesecake and really they should have described them as cheesecake sticks I think because that would have sounded way more appetising!

I love macadamia nuts so that was always going to be plus point for me and the biscuit part is very chocolatey. The white chocolate coating is very thick and there is only really a hint of a cream cheese taste but just enough to make them interesting.

Verdict

I really enjoyed these Fran Collections Bon Macadamia Fromage Sticks and they are probably my favourite Japanese product so far! They are available from Candysan for ¥165 (about £1.06).

REVIEW! Kit Kat Big Little - Green Tea

2013-05-16T18:19:00.000+01:00

The other day I reviewed some Green Tea Oreos from Candysan and today it's another Green Tea product in the form of these Green Tea flavoured Kit Kat "Big Little", also from Candysan. They are basically Kit Kat bites that are covered in a green tea flavoured white chocolate. They came in a 37g bag which contains 196 calories,

The little, almost cube-shaped bites smell mostly of white chocolate with just a hint of the green tea. and the chocolate coating is quite thick. It is a lovely bright green with some darker green speckles.

The green tea flavour is quite subtle compared to the Oreos. I think that the white chocolate tones it down a bit and makes it much sweeter. It is a nice flavour though and I always enjoy the crunchy familiar texture of a Kit Kat.

Verdict

I know that there are a lot of crazy Kit Kat flavours out there and this is probably one of the tamer ones. I enjoyed these little green tea bites but I would have preferred the chocolate to have been milk or dark to really compliment the green tea flavour. I get why they went with white though, I am sure they wouldn't have got the nice green colour otherwise. You can purchase these Green Tea Kit Kat Big Little from Candysan for ¥170 which is about £1.09.

REVIEW! Green Tea Chocolate Oreos

2013-05-14T21:13:00.001+01:00

I was sent these Green Tea Chocolate Oreos to review from Japanese Snack specialists Candysan. I have been really excited about reviewing these seeing as I love Oreos...who doesn't! Green Tea seems a very popular flavour in Japan and it's a flavour that is still quite new to me but I did recently review some Green Tea Ice Cream which I really enjoyed.

Green Tea Chocolate Oreos come in nice box and are individually wrapped. They are not the usual round shaped Oreos that I am used to, but more like little logs. There were 8 in this box and each Oreo is 32 calories.

Each biscuit is around an inch long and they are a lovely bright green colour. I could really smell the green tea but they also smelt very sweet, almost sickly. The texture is like that of a normal Oreo, quite crunchy.

When I first took a bite I was hit with a really strong green tea taste which was quite bitter and at first I thought I wasn't going to enjoy this biscuit....but then came the chocolate and wow, actually this combination is awesome! The sweetness of the chocolate biscuit really compliments the green tea and I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed these crazy Oreos!

Verdict
Well I honestly did not think I was going to be awarding these full marks but I loved Green Tea Chocolate Oreos! The flavour combination is just so unusual but really worked well. These Oreos are available from Candysan for ¥210 which is around £1.35.

REVIEW! Hershey's Milk Duds

2013-05-13T22:14:00.002+01:00

Well I have finally worked my way through the huge parcel of goodies sent to me by American goods specialists Yankee Pop and last but not least is these Hershey's Milk Duds. I've never tried these before but I do know that they are very popular.

A 52g box is available from Yankee Pop for 99p and contains 230 calories and are apparently 35% less fat than the averse of the leading chocolate candy brands...whatever that means.

Mild Duds are basically chewy caramel, more like toffee, coated in chocolate. They are around the size of a Galaxy Minstrel but a bit fatter and more irregular in shape.

According to Wikipedia they get their odd name because the "milk" refers to the large amounts of milk in the product and the "duds" is because they failed to make a perfectly round piece.

I have said before that I am not a huge fan of Hershey's chocolate, especially the oily kind that they have used on the Milk Duds. The thing is a Hershey's bar can still be good despite the chocolate if the filling is awesome (5th Avenue for example) but sadly the caramel is somewhat lacking and just a bit boring.

Verdict
Milk Duds are OK, they weren't horrible but they are just a bit bland so I can only give them an average rating. However Mr Review Addict loved them and happily polished of the rest of the box!

A big thank you to Yankee Pop for all of the lovely things that they sent me for review! You can buy American sweets online from Yankee Pop's website. They also have a Facebook page and you can follow them on Twitter.

REVIEW! Fox's Rocky Chockas Double Choc

2013-05-12T22:58:00.004+01:00

These Fox's Rocky Chockas have been out for a while despite the fact that they still say new on the packet. They come in Honeycomb, Original and Double Choc flavours. I purchased them as they were on offer in Tesco for a £1 and the original Rocky bars have always been a childhood favourite of mine.

They are similar to normal Rockys but not individually wrapped and a bit smaller. Double Choc is a chocolate shortcake biscuit with dark and white chocolate chips, crisp rice and with a milk chocolate coating. Each biscuit is 86 calories.

You get 7 biscuits in the packet which seems like a random number to me. There is 4 biscuits on the top layer with 2 in the middle section, the odd biscuit is beneath that; they could have managed to fit in an 8th biscuit surely?

These are very crunchy biscuits and very chocolatey. I love that they are quite packed with the chocolate chips and there seemed to be more of the white ones than the dark chocolate chips. I really like the milk chocolate used in a standard Rocky and this is the same stuff coating the outside so they did not disappoint.

VerdictBoth Mr Review Addict and I loved these Double Choc Rocky Chockas and I will definitely be stocking up whilst they are on offer. They would have got full marks but I really think that they need to make it 8 biscuits in the packet!

REVIEW! Asda Chosen By You Savoury Cheese and Chive Profiteroles

2013-05-10T16:43:00.002+01:00

Another trip to Asda in my lunch break and another new product to try! These Asda Chosen By You Savoury Cheese and Chive Profiteroles intrigued me and were a very reasonable £1 so I thought that it would be rude not to try them. The bag weighs 60g and 4 profiteroles contains 76 calories.

They are described as Choux Pasty Profiteroles with a cheese and chive filling. Now you have probably gathered that these are not profiteroles in the traditional sense, they are not a chewy sweet pasty like in the dessert and there is no chocolate involved either.

These little domes are savoury snacks and the outside pasty is ridiculously light and crispy with a toasted cheese and slightly salty flavour to it.

The cheese and chive creamy filling is delicious, it's a very soft and light cheese and the chive flavour is quite strong. I was also getting a hint of garlic so I best get on the Tic Tacs after munching on these. The best way that I can describe these snacks is they are like a posh Cheese Football!

Verdict

I really like these little snacks, the texture is delightful and they had a nice strong flavour to them. Very nice posh nibbles!

REVIEW! Doritos Jacked - Spicy Buffalo Wings Flavour

2013-05-09T19:45:00.004+01:00

There were 2 flavours of Doritos Jacked available in Asda the other day: this Spicy Buffalo Wings flavour and a Chicken Enchilada flavour. This 175g bag cost me £1.98 and there is 152 calories per 30g serving.

I am rather fond of Doritos, and apparently Doritos Jacked means bigger chips with a more bold flavour. The bag says "Savour the one two punch of flavour; the first wave starts with a creamy sauce and then ends with a spicy buffalo kick that'll leave your taste buds begging for more" and despite being a meaty flavour they are actually suitable for vegetarians. The bag also says that they are 55% heavier than regular Doritos and yes I can tell you that they are bigger and chunkier.

The description of the flavour is actually pretty accurate, they start of quite tame and then they do get pretty hot. I know different people can handle different levels of heat and these were just on the limit for me, they were hot and gave my mouth a nice tingle and slightly burning lips but I couldn't stop eating them, they were quite addictive...mind you I say that about a lot of crisps, I clearly have issues.

Verdict

I enjoyed the Spicy Buffalo Wings flavour but for me they weren't massively different from the Chilli Heatwave flavour that has been around for years. I would probably buy these over Chilli Heatwave however, purely for the bigger chips...bigger is always better!

REVIEW! Bourbon Strawberry Mochi Chocolat

2013-05-08T19:57:00.002+01:00

Do you remember the Chocolate Almond Crunch Pocky that I reviewed the other day? Well Japanese Snack specialists Candysan also sent me these Strawberry Mochi Chocolat.

I had never seen or heard of mochi chocolate until now, apparently they are soft rice cakes and I really had no idea what to expect when I tried them. This box contained 2 individually wrapped packs of 4 sweets. In the individual packs there was little packet of something that I assume is to keep them fresh; it said not to eat it so I binned it.

The Mochi Chocolat looked quite strange, Mr Review Addict reckons that they look like peaches. The texture is like a really soft jelly and the sweets have 3 layers to them. The outside jelly part doesn't really taste of much but the 2nd creamy layer has a really strong strawberry flavour and then the centre is chocolate.

Verdict
I couldn't really get on with the texture of the Mochi Chocolate, it just felt too strange to me but I did enjoy the taste and quite liked the strawberry flavour mixed with the hint of chocolate. Mochi Chocolat are available from Candysan for ¥215 (about £1.40) and they also do this Green Tea Flavour!

REVIEW! Strawberry Fanta

2013-05-07T18:17:00.000+01:00

This Strawberry Fanta was another product that was sent to me for review by American goods specialists Yankee Pop. I am a big fan of Grape Fanta but have never tried the Strawberry version. Both are available from Yankee Pop as single cans or 12 can packs.

I can't think of many strawberry flavoured drinks in the UK which I think is weird because strawberries are quite a British thing so I am not sure we don't have this here. Anyway it apparently contains 100% natural flavours and 180 calories per can.

I wasn't sure I was going to like this drink because a lot of non diet fizzy drinks are really syrupy and I was thinking that strawberry flavoured Fanta was going to be extremely sickly. It is really rather sweet and it does have a distinctly artificial strawberry taste about it but you know what, I really liked it and it was actually really refreshing!

Verdict
I was surprised how much I enjoyed Strawberry Fanta. I will still go for Grape Fanta when buying goods from across the pond but if there is no Grape then Strawberry is a good back up!

You can buy American sweets online from Yankee Pop's website. They also have a Facebook page and you can follow them on Twitter.

REVIEW! Briska Craft Cider - Pear and Pomegranate Flavours

2013-05-06T14:49:00.001+01:00

I am a big fan of cider so I was thrilled to be asked to review Briska Craft Cider. Briska is a Swedish cider from Österlen which is located on the south coast of Sweden. Apparently Briska is the only Swedish Craft Cider available in the UK and they have just launched a new 50cl bottle. I was sent a bottle of their Pear Cider and a very exciting sounding Pomegranate Cider but there is also an Apple Cider available.

A 50cl bottle of Briska Pear Cider contains 4.5% alc/vol. It smelt lovely and fresh and was a fairly clear colour with a slight greenish tinge to it. The pear scent was lovely and so was the taste; it was sweet and crisp so was easy to drink, unlike some pear ciders which can be too syrupy and stick in the back of your throat. It was fairly fizzy but not too gassy and was very refreshing, I have to say this is one of the nicest pear ciders I have tasted.

Briska Pomegranate Cider contains 4.0% alc/vol and had a a pinkish colour to it. It smells very fresh and fruity; the press release describes it as having a hint of grapefruit but to me I could smell apples and of course pomegranate rather than grapefruit. The taste was delicious, it just felt more sophisticated than a regular cider and even more refreshing than the pear flavour. It was sweet and fizzy, again without being too gassy and the pomegranate flavour was really nice.

Verdict

I enjoyed both ciders from Briska but my favourite was the pomegrante flavour. It was unusual and so refreshing and easy to drink. It went down a treat with the nice weather that we have been having this weekend and I will most certainly be looking out for Briska Craft Cider when it hits the supermarkets later this year.

Check out the Briska website, there is an awesome sounding recipe for the Briska Cider Apple Sling which I will definately be trying!

REVIEW! Nestle Butterfinger

2013-05-05T23:22:00.001+01:00

This Nestle Butterfinger was part of the parcel of goodies sent to me by American goods specialists Yankee Pop for review. The Butterfinger is a bar that I have always wanted to try but for some reason I just hadn't got round to it until now, it's available from Yankee Pop for a very reasonable 99p.

The bar is described as crispety, crunchety, peanut-buttery and contains 270 calories. It's a big bar at 60g and when I snapped it in half it looked quite a lot like a Hershey's 5th Avenue which I reviewed a while back but probably more orange in colour.

The texture of the bar is weird, just like the 5th Avenue and I can see why they made up words to describe it because it is difficult to explain it. It's like a peanut brittle sort of idea but with a peanut butter filling. If I was to compare it further to a 5th Avenue then I would say that there is more of the crunchy stuff and less peanut butter. The peanut butter is pretty sweet rather than the really salty stuff but that suits my tastebuds and I really enjoyed the contrasting textures of this bar.

Verdict
I loved the 5th Avenue when I tried it despite the crap Hershey's chocolate so the Butterfinger was right up my street and I have to say it's probably one of my favourite American bars! I just love the crazy texture, the sweet peanut butter and the chocolate coating didn't spoil it one bit!

You can buy American sweets online from Yankee Pop's website. They also have a Facebook page and you can follow them on Twitter.

REVIEW! Glico Chocolate Almond Crunch Pocky

2013-05-04T19:15:00.000+01:00

I was recently sent a few bits to review from Japanese Snack specialists Candysan and was very excited when my parcel arrived because this is my first proper introduction to the world of Japanese snacks!

The first product that I am reviewing is these Chocolate Almond Crunch Pocky from Glico. I've tried Mikado before which are very similar to Pocky but these looked way more exciting with their very knobbly appearance. They come in a cardboard box and then within that box was 3 individual packets containing 4 Pocky (or is that Pockys? I am not sure of the plural of Pocky).

If you have never tried Pocky then they are basically thin sticks of biscuits, almost like pretzel. They come in all sorts of crazy flavours including these awesome Coffee Cookie Crush Pocky featuring Snoopy as reviewed by Grocery Gems. Katherine has reviewed loads of Pocky flavours so be sure to check out her other reviews too.

These Chocolate Almond Crunch Pocky are available from Candysan for ¥170 which works out about £1.10.

Despite the fairly thick layer of chocolate, these Pocky didn't taste massively chocolatey to me, the almond was definitely the dominant flavour here but that was fine with me as I love almonds. The sticks were very crunchy and had a very slight saltiness to them which made them very moreish.

Verdict

I really enjoyed these Pocky and I have another flavour to review so I am looking foward to trying those. Check out Candysan's online store as they have some really interesting products from Japan...I can't wait to try the Green Tea Oreos!

REVIEW! Cadbury Chocolate Chaos Pot

2013-05-04T14:56:00.000+01:00

I picked up this beast of a dessert in Tesco the other night. The Cadbury Chocolate Chaos Pot cost me £3.39 and it serves 6 at 165 calories per serving. It is not suitable for vegetarians as it contains pork gelatine.

I've seen these sorts of desserts before but never one from Cadbury. It contains Cadbury chocolate mousse, vanilla mouse, Cadbury chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, chocolate sponge pieces and milk chocolate coasted shortcake biscuits...just look at it!

I can certainly see why this dessert is called a Chaos pot, that is a lot of things packed into one dessert! Despite it's name it looks fantastic in the big pot and I have no idea how they managed to get everything in so neatly!

I wish my serving skills were as tidy because when I dished it into bowls it just looked like a chocolate mess. Don't let the looks put you off though because it tasted delicious. The 2 different mousses are very nice but I especially enjoyed the vanilla mousse and I really think that Cadbury need to sell pots of this stuff on it's own. Both the chocolate and the caramel sauces were rich and sweet. The sponge pieces are ridiculously light and fluffy and then the shortcake balls added a nice bit of biscuity crunch.

Verdict

I usually go for ice cream or cheesecake for dessert so this indulgent mousse based dessert made a nice change. I think the price was quite reasonable but I will say that this probably serves more like 4 people rather than the 6 that it suggests.

REVIEW! Ski Coconut Mousse With Chocolate Sauce

2013-05-03T15:25:00.000+01:00

A big thank you to one of my lovely readers who informed me about these Ski Coconut Mousses. I always go on about how much I love coconut so obviously I had to go and track these down ASAP! I found them in Tesco and they cost £1 for a pack of 4. There is also a strawberry and a lemon meringue mousse in the same range.

Each 59g pot of mousse is just 90 calories and if you are a Slimming World follower, that works out at 4.5 Syns. Being made by Nestle I wondered if these would be as tasty as the Aero mousses which I am rather fond of...well I can tell you that in my opinion they are MORE tasty.

Like Aero mousses, they are quite thick and it is worth noting that they contain beef gelatine so are not suitable for vegetarians. It's a white coloured mousse which I guess is unsurprising given that it's coconut flavour, and has little veins of chocolate sauce throughout. It smells very coconuty and very sweet and with the chocolate it actually smells rather like a Bounty. It actually tastes exactly how I would imagine a Bounty mousse to taste and if it has been made by Mars then it probably would be called a Bounty mousse!

Verdict

A very nice little dessert at a great price and not too many calories. I will definitely be buying these again.

REVIEW! Marks and Spencer Beef Burger Hand Cooked Crisps

2013-05-02T20:30:00.000+01:00

I first heard about these crisps on Foodstuff Finds when Spectre reviewed them last month. Still mourning the loss of Beef Burger Pringles I knew that I had to give these Marks and Spencer Beef Burger Hand Cooked Crisps a try. They are part of the Great British Summer food range and along with this flavour there is also a Fish and Chip flavour which Grocery Gems reviewed a couple of weeks ago.

The 150g bag cost me £1.49 and contains 5x 30g servings which work out at 150 calories each. Interestingly they are suitable for vegetarians and they do not contain any artificial colours or flavourings.

They smell delicious, just like a nice flame grilled beef burger which I will admit that I am partial to from time to time. Being hand cooked crisps they are lovely and crunchy but not greasy; I think I have explained the satisfaction that I gain from eating these sorts of crisps before and these did not disappoint. I don't know how they have done it but they really do taste like beef burgers. Looking at the list of ingredients didn't give me any clues as to what sorts of wizardry they have used to create this master piece and you know what I am not going to question it, I am off to finish the rest of the bag!

Verdict
Goodbye Beef Burger Pringles, hello Marks and Spencers Beef Burger Crisps! I can see that I am going to have a serious problem with these...very addictive!

REVIEW! Almond Joy and Mounds

2013-05-01T21:12:00.000+01:00

I very kindly sent a few products to review by American goods specialists Yankee Pop and one of the products that they sent was an Almond Joy. I was really excited about this because being a lover of Mounds it's a bar that I have always wanted to try. Because I haven't reviewed a Mounds before and I just so happened to have one still in my review box you are getting 2 reviews for the price of one.

Mounds was created in 1921 and was originally produced by Peter Paul. The Almond Joy was introduced later on in 1946 and now both bars are made by Hershey's.

Both bars are similar to a Bounty in that they both come in 2 pieces and contain a very similar coconut filling. The Mounds with it's dark chocolate coating contains 230 calories, whereas the Almond Joy with it's milk chocolate coating contains slightly less at 200. The Almond Joy is not just a milk chocolate version of the Mounds, it also has 2 almonds on top of each bar which sit just under the chocolate.

The good thing about these bars is that they seem to contain real chocolate instead of the nasty fake stuff that Hershey's use in some of their bars and the coconut filling is really delicious. I think that there is a slight difference compared to a Bounty, perhaps it's a little less sticky and fluffier but to me it tastes the same.

Verdict
It's very hard for me to pick a favourite between the 2 bars. The Mounds is very similar to a Dark Chocolate Bounty which has long been a favourite of mine, whereas the Almond Joy has the added bonus of the almonds which compliment the coconut nicely. I can't choose so they both get the same rating!

You can buy American sweets online from Yankee Pop's website. They also have a Facebook page and you can follow them on Twitter.

REVIEW! Golden Break Cocoa and Hazelnut Cream Wafers

2013-04-29T18:48:00.001+01:00

The Review Addict is 1 year old today! Where has the time gone? I can't believe how much stuff I have reviewed this year and how much I still have in my cupboard, fridge and freezer waiting to be reviewed! A big thank you to everyone who has sent me products (if I haven't reviewed it yet, don't worry it's coming) and of course a big thank you to all my lovely readers!

Before things get too emotional I will get on to today's review which is these Golden Break Cocoa and Hazelnut Cream Wafers. I spotted them whilst browsing the World Food section of my local Tesco the other day. I will be honest, I was attracted to the big shiny tin and the word Hazelnut and I purchased them for £2.75 without paying too much attention to what I was buying.

So as you have probably guessed by now that the tin contains wafer sticks filled with cocoa and hazelnut cream. There are 25 sticks and 2 of them contains 78 calories.

The tin tells me that the wafers are imported by Benino Fine Foods who are based in Sydney, Australia but they are actually produced in Greece. Looking online I can't find much info about the company but I assume these wafers must be quite popular for Tesco to stock them.

I loved the way that the wafers are all lined up in the tin and they look a bit like cigars.

The texture is extremely light and flakey and the wafer has a taste of brown sugar to it. The hazelnut filling is absolutely delicious. It's lighter than Nutella and much creamier and the hazelnut is quite strong. They are very tasty indeed and I struggled to only eat 2!

Verdict
I am so pleased a discovered these Cocoa and Hazelnut Cream Wafer sticks, they are perfect with a cup of coffee and make a lovely light but very sweet snack. I also love the tin as it means that the wafers are kept lovely and fresh and don't lose their nice texture.

REVIEW! Creams Cafe Woking

2013-04-28T14:36:00.000+01:00

Luxury Winter Nut Sundae

It's been a while since I have done an eating out review and it's not because I haven't been going out to eat, it's just that we go to the same places a lot. There isn't much choice in Bracknell so when we try somewhere new it's usually a bit further afield and when I heard about Creams Cafe then I knew that this was a place that I had to try!

Creams Cafe is a chain of dessert cafes with locations in London, Surrey and Middlesex. Mr Review Addict and I took a trip to their Woking cafe yesterday afternoon based on a recommendation from a friend who has been their earlier in the week.

As we arrived we were quickly seated and presented with an absolutely huge menu with lots of choice. I think I counted 17 different ice cream sundae options, then there is crepes, waffles, milkshakes, hot desserts like sticky toffee pudding or hot cookie dough and several different cakes. Choosing was a complete nightmare because everything sounded so good! All desserts are priced between about £4-£7, although if you fancy a Birthday Extravaganza of 15 scoops of ice cream on a bed of waffles with fresh whipped cream, syrups, 3 types of wafers and 5 types of sprinkles, that will set you back £27.95. Well I was considering the Birthday Extravaganza but in the end I opted for the Luxury Winter Nut Sundae and Mr Review Addict went for a waffle with Nutella and Crushed Oreos and ice cream.

Giant Waffle With Nutella and Oreos

Whilst waiting for our lovely desserts to arrived I noted that the decor was set out like an American Diner with lots of black and pink and neon lights, I loved the colour combinations but it also meant that the cafe was quite dark and could have done with a bit more light so that huge menu was easier to read.

My dessert arrived first and it was absolutely huge! It consisted of Sicilian Pistachio and Hazelnut ice creams, caramel sauce and roasted chopped nuts. It was then topped off with a huge lump of whippy ice cream. Mr Review Addict's dessert arrived a good 5-10 minutes later and was equally massive. The menu does say that desserts may not arrive together because everything is made fresh but this is one of my pet hates when going out to eat. If you are eating as a couple or a group then you want to eat at the same time! I get that they want everything to be fresh but I've eaten in other dessert restaurants (such as Haagen Dazs Cafe which I reviewed last year) and they make their dessert fresh but manage to get everyone's food out together.

That said, we both really enjoyed our desserts. The pistachio and hazelnut ice creams were both tasted amazing and were clearly excellent quality. The only thing I would have changed about the Luxury Winter Nut Sundae would have been to replace the whippy ice cream with fresh cream as it would have been a bit lighter and I might have stood more chance of eating more than the half that I managed. Mr Review Addict loved his waffle and couldn't fault it. I tried some and it was light, sweet and delicious, I will definitely give one of these a go next time.

Verdict
We both really enjoyed our visit to Creams in Woking and next time we are in town we will certainly visit them again. I can't fault the food and if I was marking on that alone then I would have award full marks, but due to the timing issue I am deducting a star. One other bit of feedback that I would give is that despite the huge menu I was surprised to see no brownie, I would love to see a chocolate brownie sundae because I bet Creams would do an awesome version!

REVIEW! Sainsbury's Pure Indulgence Chocolate Brownie Ice Creams

2013-04-27T22:43:00.001+01:00

Mr Review Addict came home with these very delicious sounding ice creams from Sainsbury's the other day. I think he was attracted to the fact that they have the word Brownie in the name because Mr Review Addict loves all things involving Brownie.

This box of 3 Sainsbury's Pure Indulgence Chocolate Brownie Ice Creams costs £2.99 but there is an offer on at the moment for 2 boxes for £4. The ice creams are described as chocolate dairy ice cream with chocolate sauce and brownie pieces, coated in a Belgian milk chocolate shell with chocolate cookie crumble. Each one contains 242 calories.

I really enjoyed the thick milk chocolate shell, it's good quality chocolate and the cookie crumble adds texture. Within the lovely chocolate shell is a pretty decent chocolate ice cream which contains a few brownie pieces which have a nice gooey texture. I would have liked more brownie as there wasn't all that much there and I would have liked more of the rich chocolate sauce.

These ice creams are clearly designed to compete with the likes of Magnums but for me there are a few issues. A box of 3 Magnum Infinity ice creams is also priced at £2.99 in Sainsbury's (Magnum Classics and Magnum White are actually only £2.69) and I personally would expect a supermarket own brand to be cheaper. You could argue with that and say that if they are as good as a branded ice cream then why shouldn't they cost the same and I would agree if that was in fact the case. For example I recently tried Sainsbury's Salted Caramel and Belgian Chocolate Ice Cream which incidentally is AMAZING and I would easily pay for that than a tub of Haagen Dazs. However although these Pure Indulgence Chocolate Brownie Ice Creams are very nice ice creams there was just not enough brownie or sauce for me to pick these over a Magnum Infinity.

There is also 1 other problem and that is size; they say that size doesn't matter but I am sorry when it comes to ice cream it does! A Magnum is 330ml of ice cream whereas these Sainsbury's ice creams are only 240ml so you are actually getting less ice cream for your money!

Verdict
Sainsbury's Pure Indulgence Chocolate Brownie Ice Creams are good but they are only getting an average mark from me because personally I think that Sainsbury's need to rethink their pricing. I think shoppers are very savvy these days and if they see a branded ice cream that is better value then they are going to pick that over a supermarket version.

REVIEW! Dr Karg Emmental Cheese and Pumpkin Seed Crispbreads

2013-04-26T21:00:00.000+01:00

Today I thought that I would review something a little bit healthier than the usual chocolate, ice cream and desserts and I have been meaning to try these Dr Karg crispbreads for a while because they just look so interesting! The folks at Dr Karg kindly sent me these Emmental Cheese and Pumpkin Seed flavour Crispbreads to review and I was only too pleased to oblige.

These are organic wholegrain crispbreads and they contan no added fats, oils, preservatives or additives and are apparently high in fibre. The 200g bag contains 8 crispbreads and each one contains 107 calories. This particular flavour contain sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, linseed and are topped with Emmental cheese and pumpkin seeds.

They look fantastic and are jam packed with seeds which are packed full of goodness and you can read more about the benefits on the Dr Karg website. They are also quite large, around 11cm by 8cm and about 0.5cm thick and I thought they might be a bit heavy going but actually they were surprisingly easy to eat.

The crispbread is quite dense in texture and very crunchy. Usually I would eat these sort of things with a piece of cheddar but the flavours in these were strong enough to make the crispbread a decent snack in it's own right; the seeds add a nice nutty flavour and the cheese is quite strong and the combination is very nice.

Verdict

Dr Karg Emmental Cheese and Pumpkin Seed Crispbreads were much nicer than I was expecting. They are filling and tasty and I particularly like the cheese topping. I would definitely buy these again as a healthier snack and I will look out for the other flavours, particularly Tomato and Mozzarella or Roasted Onion!

REVIEW! Redhead Chewy Lemonhead and Friends Fruit Candy

2013-04-25T21:13:00.001+01:00

You may recall that American goods specialists Yankee Pop very kindly sent me some chocolate and candy from across the pond the other week; well this box of Redhead Chewy Lemonhead and Friends Fruit Candy was part of my lovely parcel.

I've actually never heard of this candy before but as a lover of all things sweet I was only too happy to give them a try. Lemon-head candy is made by Ferrara Pan and they come in a few varieties. This 23g Redhead Chewy version consists of flavours from red coloured fruits and you can purchase a box for just 40p from Yankee Pop. The whole box contains just 80 calories...and a whole lot sugar, but hey if I was worried about sugar I wouldn't eat these sorts of things but being a big kid I can't help myself.

There are 4 flavours; Raspberry Lemon, Pink Watermelon, Stawberry and Wild Cherry. The little ball shaped sweets are very similar to jelly beans in texture but probably a bit chewier, they do however have a bit more oomph to their flavours than regular jelly beans. I enjoyed all of them but I have to say that the Watermelon was my favourite as it has a bit of a sour kick to it and there is just not enough watermelon flavoured sweets in the UK...in fact I can't think of any!

Verdict

Redhead Chewy Lemonhead and Friends Fruit Candy is fantastic, much more interesting flavours than what we are used to in the UK. Not quite as awesome as the Laffy Taff that I reviewed the other day but not far behind!

You can buy American sweets online from Yankee Pop's website. They also have a Facebook page and you can follow them on Twitter.

REVIEW! Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvellous Creations

2013-04-23T19:28:00.000+01:00

These Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvellous Creations bars have already been out in Australia for a little while so when I heard that they were coming to the UK I was extremely excited! Mr Review Addict found these bars for me in Londis.

The bars are regular Dairy Milk but they are not the usual Dairy Milk rectangular chunks; the sections are quite randomly shaped and textured which makes for an interesting looking bar.

Jelly Popping Candy Shells

First up is Jelly Popping Candy Shells. This was the bar that I was most excited about and that is because it contains as the name suggests: fruit flavoured jellies, sugar coated candies and popping candy. A 47g bar will set you back 235 calories.

I was a little disappointed that this bar did not contain more of the extras. The jellies and sugar coated candies were quite sparse and actually of the 5 pieces of the bar, only 2 bits had them in. However the popping candy was better distributed throughout the bar. I've read lots of reviews of this bar and I was surprised to find that this was the case because the photos that I have seen on other blogs make this bar look jam-packed. If you look at the photo of my bar above, you wouldn't even know that it contained anything extra so maybe I got a duff one? Here is a photo of one of the 2 chunks that did contain some jellies and candies...

Jelly Popping Candy Shells

Taste-wise, despite the poor distrubtion, I throughly enjoyed the fruity flavour of the jellies and I loved the craziness of chocolate with chewy, crunchy and popping bits all at once.

Cookie Nut Crunch

Cookie Nut Crunch is not quite as exciting sounding in my opinion, but does still have some nice additions. It contains biscuits, crunchy almond caramel and chopped, roasted caramelised hazelnuts. It also has slightly more calories at 245 for a 47g bar.

The fillings were more consistently distributed in this bar and added a lovely crunchy texture to the smooth creamy Dairy Milk. I liked the nutty flavour and the hint of caramel and the biscuit was delicious as it was similar to shortbread.

Verdict

Although it's not a hugely exciting bar compared to it's partner in the Marvellous Creations range, Cookie Nut Crunch is fantastic and I will definitely be buying it again. As for Jelly Popping Candy Shells, I loved the flavours and the mash up of textures. This would have been my favourite; but I have to mark based on what I sampled and the lack of consistency across the whole bar let it down a bit. I will have to try it again and see if the distribution is better next time.

REVIEW! Burley Fudge Maple Walnut Fudge

2013-04-22T20:20:00.002+01:00

I've always been a big lover of fudge so I was excited to see the Burley Fudge stand at the Southbank Chocolate Festival back in March. I only tried one flavour at the stand but I instantly smitten and I knew straight away that I had to buy a bag because this Maple Walnut flavour is quite simply awesome!

Burley Fudge is based in the New Forest and this was the first time that I had tried their fudge. It looked lovely with it's golden brown colour and crumbly looking texture. Crumbly is how fudge should look, I can't stand that overly smooth looking cheap stuff that you get in seaside gift-shops, it never tastes of much and has a weird texture.

The 150g bag that I purchased contained some really big chunks of fudge and the walnut pieces were also quite large. The fudge is clearly good quality, the texture was crumbly but as it melted it was smooth and creamy; it tasted wonderful! It started off similar to vanilla fudge but the maple syrup flavour came through as it melted in the mouth and the earthy taste of the walnuts really complimented it.

Verdict

Probably the nicest fudge I have ever tasted, I wish that I had bought more!

REVIEW! Alpen Light Lemon Drizzle with Yogurt Cereal Bar

2013-04-21T10:55:00.002+01:00

Last year I reviewed Alpen Light Cherry Bakewell Bars and loved them. Then I saw the Lemon Drizzle version reviewed by Grocery Gems back in March and knew that I had to try them. I've only just managed to track them down and picked up this box of 5 bars in Asda last week for £1.65.

I have mentioned loads of times on this blog that I follow Slimming World and these Alpen light bars are fantastic as you are are allowed to eat 2 of them as a B choice. For those of you that don't follow the plan, this is basically the bit that that makes sure that you are getting the right amount of fibre in your diet. I prefer to stick to wholemeal bread as my usual B choice but if I am on the go then these bars are something quick and easy to grab and surprisingly filling considering that they only contain 62 calories per bar. Although there is a bit of confusion about calories because the nutritional info states 62 calories but the front of the box says 70; I am sure that 8 calories won't make much difference in the grand scheme of things.

The bar is described as a mixed cereal bar with apple, lemon and yogurt flavour drizzle. It certainly smells of lemon which as a flavour I love because it is just so refreshing...I have actually been known to sit and suck on actual wedges of lemon which always gets some funny looks. The yogurt is quite sparse but I would expect this from a lower calorie cereal bar.

The texture is crunchy and light, much the same as the Cherry Bakewell bars that I reviewed before. The pieces of apple are chewy and I wasn't getting much "apple" flavour coming through. The lemon flavour was nice but it was not strong enough for me, and this is something that I have found with a lot of the fruit flavoured Alpen bars.

Verdict

Lemon seems to be an acquired taste but the more lemony the better for me and sadly this bar just didn't hit the spot when it came to flavour, I much prefer Cherry Bakewell or the Chocolate Alpen Light bars.

REVIEW! Mars 3 Musketeers Coconut

2013-04-20T15:45:00.002+01:00

This 3 Musketeers Coconut was sent to me by American goods specialists, Yankee Pop and is a bar that I have always wanted to try being a big fan of coconut. This particular bar is actually from Canada and I've never actually tried the standard 3 Musketeers but I gather that it's the same as our UK Milky Way which not to be confused with the US Milky Way which is the same as our Mars Bar.

The wrapper describes the bar as whipped up, fluffy chocolate with a coconut taste. It weighs 42.2g and contains 180 calories and apparently 40% less fat than other leading chocolate brands. These are available from Yankee Pop for a very reasonable £1.09.

The 3 Musketeers Coconut is made of 2 smaller bars and l could smell the coconut as soon as l opened the wrapper. It was indeed just like a Milky Way with a light nougat filling but with the bonus of a gorgeous coconut flavour. It's not a massively strong coconut taste and the wrapper indicates that the flavouring is artificial but it doesn't taste overly "fake" at all in my opinion. There was certainly enough flavour to please this coconut fan and I think that the balance with the chocolate and the nougat is just right.

Verdict
The 3 Musketeers is one of my new favourite chocolate bars so a big thank you to Yankee Pop for sending it to me!

You can buy American sweets online from Yankee Pop's website. They also have a Facebook page and you can follow them on Twitter.